Hey there!
Big news here: I am now on day 17 of staying off of social media (which for me means Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok).
I’m not sure how long this break will last, and I don’t have plans to delete those accounts. For now I’m just stepping back.
Maybe sometime I’ll share more about my experience with deciding/trying to reset my online habits. But at the moment I feel so painfully aware of the seductive power of what my friend Sarah Bryan referred to recently as “The Phantom Important Something” (beckoning us ever deeper into the bottomless scroll) that I want to spare both you and me any sweeping proclamations about my reformation. Let’s wait and see how it goes, eh?
In the meantime, I’m exploring whether and how I can keep up with people who care about the stuff I’m doing via other channels. This here newsletter (which you can get in your inbox and/or read on Substack) being the main one, and YouTube being the other. (I know some folks consider YouTube social media, but for my own brain it’s in a different category.)
So how about this for an experiment: I’ve scheduled a YouTube livestream workshop on Saturday, April 8, and I’m not going to post about it on The Socials. (You’re welcome to post about it, but I’m not gonna.) I’ll break down the tune “Gone to the Free State” from John Ashby (in AEAE tuning), followed by a Q&A. No ticket required (go here if you want to buy a ticket anyway), but generous tipping will be encouraged. Think anyone will show up?🤞
Cool Stuff
Listening: The new Iris DeMent album, Workin’ on a World. It feels fresh and of-the-moment to me. When the song “Goin’ Down To Sing In Texas” was featured in the New York Times, Kieran listened to it first, then pulled out his earbuds and declared, “You need to hear this. It’s very freeing.” The whole project has a lot to offer, especially the conversational writing and wonderfully empathetic production.
Reading: Dopamine Nation by Dr. Anna Lembke. While this isn’t a book I can recommend unreservedly — there’s plenty in it that didn’t resonate for me, some of which might be a dealbreaker for you, I dunno — I found the brain-science parts of it genuinely helpful in understanding what’s going on when I get the itch to paw at my phone.
Viewing: Night After Night. (Currently available on Criterion Channel.) Another recommendation that comes with caveats. So: this might not be the greatest film, but I still want you to see it — because it’s Mae West’s debut, and boy does she own it! Of course she’s firing off double entendres and slinking around in a sparkly dress, as one would hope; but she also evokes a particular flavor of female camaraderie that is rarely (if ever?) depicted on screen. (This movie totally passes the Bechdel test.)
Shorter Reading: My ol’ pal Dickie (aka Dick Connette) reliably points me toward great stuff. The other day we were chatting about Buster Keaton (like you do) and he told me to check out this wonderful piece by John Lahr. I don’t think any Keaton knowledge is required in order to appreciate it.
Other Bits
For anyone in need of a lift, I’ve started a YouTube playlist of live footage of happy old-time tunes. I named it “New Old-Time Joy” (my definition of “new old-time” being anything from the past 50 years). And while I’m on the subject of YouTube… I believe I’ve already recommended both of these, but I’ll say it again: Kendall Kent’s channel and Brad Leftwich’s channel are both wonderful places to poke around. Oh, and circling back to Buster Keaton: Criterion Channel has a pile of his work available at the moment, and it’s so brilliant it hurts.
In Conclusion
If you’re a fiddlegeek, I’ll remind you that I have a sticker with your name on it, as well as an archive of online workshops. And I have some availability for online lessons from now through the month of May.
Since I’m avoiding those other platforms, I have a feeling I may end up writing more newsletters. Just thought I should warn you. Feel free to unsubscribe if it’s too much for your inbox — you can always wander by and peruse on the site. Plus Substack has recently added a “chat” feature that I might try out… until then, I welcome any conversation you’d like to crank up in the comments below!
Wishing you all well & hoping to see you soon ~
xo rayna
PS: If you haven’t yet, I hope you’ll also sign up for the KK & RG newsletter for all things duo-related!
I deleted all of my socials over a year ago and have only recently created new accounts. I really appreciated the time away and, like you, focused on our newsletter and our youtube channel.
I created new accounts recently because I felt like I needed to make money and socials certainly can help with that.
However, since creating the new accounts, I have not posted a single thing. Also, we are finding ourselves so inundated with work (both music and art) that I don't feel like I need to.
My conclusion: socials matter but the payoff is not so significant that it's worth it to be on them.
Secondary conclusion: let others do the promotion.
Good luck with your experiment!
Howard R.
Hi Rayna! Thanks for the updates. I relate a lot to your feelings on social media and I too, am taking a step back. Maybe others will follow in your footsteps and start newsletters of their own? I would like that. The Phantom Important Thing and hours lost trying to find it are truly scary... but it's not all negative, which is why that relationship to the socials is so tricky, am I right? Good job taking time away, regardless. Just a thought - you're a great writer and fun to read, maybe you could write something more than a newsletter? I know - a lot to ask - but I, for one, would read it.
Anyhow, I am doing my last day of skiing up in NH ("Live Free or Die") this coming weekend and I was wondering if there'd be a way to access the "Gone to the Free State" lesson at another time? I will happily pledge my support as well.
Thanks as always, and I hope you have a great day!
Anne Rouillard